Enjin

Enjin Review

8.3

Highlights:

Easy to use

Endless customization possibilities

Free server hosting

Various shopping integrations

Highly Secure

About Enjin:

For the purposes of this Enjin website builder review, our team of researchers has built an entire website using this effective tool. Simple and intuitive, Enjin really impressed the whole Websitebuilder.org.uk team. There are quite enough features and themes to satisfy most users, but the main focus of this website builder is on guild sites and Minecraft servers.

Pricing

Free Enjin Website Builder

Free Website Builder

Advanced

$8.99 per month

Ultimate

$29.99 per month

Introduction

Purchasing and building your first website is serious business. So today I want to introduce you to the Enjin website creator. Right off the bat, what I loved about Enjin is the premise. It’s not your typical eCommerce platform or a blogging platform. It’s a web builder for gamers.

The very idea intrigued me, since there aren’t many platforms like this on the market. I tried it out, and I was amazed by its performance. It’s simple to use and has numerous features. Literally, you can endlessly customize it.

While I find the simplicity of the Enjin website creator to be its strongest suit, its other features swayed me completely. It sports a cryptocurrency wallet or Enjin wallet, a blockchain game development platform, an Enjin coin, a network for gaming and a blockchain explorer, EnjinX.

But before you go out and try it, I recommend you read the rest of the review. You should know all about the perks and features before you start building your amazing new website. Let’s dig into our Enjin website builder review!

Ease Of Use

Enjin is really straightforward. When you use it, you’ll get a chance to pick from several types of websites. You can select the following:

Minecraft Server

Guild

Fansite

eSports Team

Other

Non-Gaming

Most options feature websites and forums, while the Minecraft server features a shop. I chose a fansite. When selecting a website type, keep in mind that customization and editing are available later. The type of website you select decides its layout and main features. However, you can edit it later and add new modules.

Throughout this Enjin review, I found this to be a huge perk. Instead of spending hours trying to work out the CMS, Enjin immediately puts you on the right track. This is because Enjin’s system is user-oriented and intuitive.

Intuitiveness

When choosing my website type, I selected Fansite and was then redirected to the homepage. Honestly, it’s overwhelming to see a website built in mere seconds. It takes you some time to get used to it. But after the initial orientation, you’ll see how easy it is to operate.

What makes Enjin one of the best website builders is how accessible everything is. At the top of the screen you have several sections, including the Admin section. Selecting this drop-down menu gives you access to your dashboard.

Although the first encounter with the dashboard may be overwhelming, there you’ll find everything you need to edit, customise and operate your website. Basically, you’ll get everything you need with point and click or drag and drop.

Drag and Drop

A website builder’s accessibility is vital – especially if you’re building a free website on your own, like I did – so let’s go into more detail in this Enjin website builder review. I recommend that you click around and get to know the modules and layout. Previous web building experience is a huge plus. But as I wrote earlier, Enjin is really intuitive.

You can simply go to the Layout tab to add sections and modules. The number of modules is a huge plus because it lets you design based on your needs. An example of this is the ‘Wiki Module’, which I loved. For a gaming website, this is really important, since most gamers love to use wikis.

And since the Enjin website builder has a drag-and-drop system, you can experiment to no end. However, keep in mind that you have to add each section manually, especially if you want more content on your website.

Image Editing

While there are numerous modules to help you style your website, Enjin has a small drawback: it doesn’t come with many image editing options. But honestly, most other platforms and builders don’t come with those options either. Since you have to load most images from your PC, you’ll be able to edit them elsewhere.

Content Editing

To use the content editing features provided by the Enjin website builder, you’ll first have to add a news/blog module to your layout. For example, I made a fansite, so I had to add the blog section manually. However, other types come with a blog, so you can check if that module is included in the layout.

But if you want to unlock all the features and use the content editing to its fullest potential, I recommend using the HTML module. Of course, knowing a bit of coding can be of immense value here, as I’ve mentioned before in this Enjin review. Still, even the blog module gives you everything you need to have a decent content management system.

Themes

Enjin is home to over 300 themes. They’re categorized by free or paid themes. Mainly, the difference between them is in the details, functionality and overall design. A great thing about themes is how easily you can search for them. Simply use a tag system, which spans from the main categories and then wraps into a tag cloud. Search based on whether you want free or paid themes, and then you select tags according to games, colours or genres. When you purchase the Ultimate payment plan you automatically unlock all themes.

There are around 54 free themes and over 250 paid themes. Also, there’s a special community within the Enjin website creator dedicated solely to web design. Even with free themes, you can still do a great job. The themes are sleek and neat, with a professional look, and rather functional.

Theme Functionality

The themes’ functionality is up to debate, that is if you are using a Free plan. When you first sign up, you get an Advanced account, which comes with a theme editor. The theme editor is awesome, since it’s simple to use and great for people with no coding experience (myself included). Using the editor sums up to loading your pages and designing them on the spot.

What’s so great about it is the clear management system, where you select sections of a web page and edit colours, fonts and buttons. Enjin website templates are numerous.

The downside, which I have to point out, is the website’s responsiveness and mobile friendliness. Currently, only the forums may load on mobile. However, developers are constantly working to make Eijin better, so it’s expected their websites will soon become more responsive.

Enjin Features

Blog

The blog option deserves to be featured in this Enjin review, 2018. To start your blog, just add a news module to the layout, but be aware that custom URLs aren’t available. After you add a module, open the content editor and you’re ready to add new content!

SSL

Enjin comes with SSL encryption. For a beginner reading this Enjin website builder review, this is a valuable feature for a small business owner or a niche gamer site. Most other web creators don’t feature SSL encryption with their free plans. The value of the SSL comes up when purchasing or trading items or other in-game commodities; it helps protect your users from hacking and other intrusions on their privacy.

As for the technical side of things, the SSL certificates come without charge. They last for a year, and they’re renewed in the last 30 days before expiration. During the renewal process, you won’t feel any glitches or rundowns on your website.

Email

Well, nothing is perfect, and neither is Enjin. It doesn’t come with webmail or email options. As far as this Enjin review 2018 goes, there won’t be any email services. Their recommendation is to use Google Suite. Still, this isn’t a big drawback. Most people use Google Suite anyway. More importantly, with the other perks Enjin provides, email isn’t worth considering.

Form Builder

When it comes to forms, and applications in general, remember that Enjin is more suited for gamers. Forms come as a general form or an application form. General forms are more suited to asking questions and are open to a lot more customisation. I found while conducting this Enjin website builder review that you can still craft an awesome form to help users contact you.

Then, there are the application forms. For a fansite, these are unbelievable. Since my website allows me to track in-game progress (like World of Warcraft ‘instances’), I could easily craft an application form for players to contact me and join my guild or clan. If you’re into building a niche gaming website, this is a huge benefit.

Menu

As far as the menus go, they are simple and sleekly designed. There aren’t many menu variations, so you can either use a horizontal or vertical menu. The Enjin team claim that they’re working on new menus. Like the email service, we can expect new menus in the following year.

Integrations

Integrations are possible and encouraged with Enjin. And integration through modules is the highlight of this Enjin website builder review. The module system truly stands out – there’s a huge number of modules you can use to further customise the website. A small problem is that you’re limited to 20 modules in the Free version and 50 modules in the Advanced version. With the Unlimited plan, you’re free to use any number of modules.

Also, if you are into gaming, using a Twitch integration is priceless. Twitch is like YouTube for gamers, it’s a streaming service where gamers share their progress and gameplay. Sharing your gaming experience leads to donations, higher status in the gaming community and popularity. On top of that, there’s also a Slack integration.

Ecommerce Functionality

This part of my Enjin review, 2018, favours gamers more than other users. Enjin features amazing eCommerce and shopping possibilities, especially for Minecraft. Based on the type of website you selected, Enjin helps you sell in-game items or ranks or other commodities related to the in-game mechanics.

Enjin has its own cryptocurrency or Enjin coin. You can use it to build your own tokens, set up a virtual goods store and create a more efficient payment system; decrease the risk of fraud and create special incentives for users to earn coins; create your unique gaming value and gaming system; and let your users earn and trade while they’re on your server. That’s something a rare few website builders can even hope to offer. Be on the frontier of change, and do it with Enjin guild websites!

This performs best with Minecraft servers, since you get to operate a Minecraft-specific website. Then, arranging trades and even in-game auctions becomes possible. But with each type of website you select, you get awesome eCommerce and shopping options.

Selling Minecraft items, or World of Warcraft items will be much easier. Also, online games and games in general are truly a niche market. Only gamers really understand how helpful it is to have this trade organized directly from your website.

But most of all, with the Tags section on your admin dashboard, you can easily track hustlers and cheaters. Trustworthiness is the main quality of your shop, after all. Protect it at all costs.

Servers

Enjin comes with several server options. As mentioned numerous times throughout the review, there’s the Enjin Minecraft server. But there are also voice servers or servers for team communications.

Compared to other services, using voice servers is great for clans and guilds. Servers are handy and awesome if you have a tight group of people communicating on a daily basis. Paying extra for voice servers truly pays off in the long run.

I really like that you get to use the Enjin Minecraft server even in the free version. But what I really love about this feature is the possibilities it opens for the user. You can either run a personal server for your friends or a professional server for a clan or a guild. Either way, I strongly recommend it.

Crypto Technology

Honestly, I was a bit sceptical when I saw that a web building platform uses crypto technology. But after a while I actually found it to be a great thing.

Eijin has it all from wallet to coin. The wallet store supports almost all types of coin. Like the website, it has various security mechanisms for you to stay safe while trading. This may help you to create the best clan website out there. With crypto’s rising popularity, this gives a team or an owner a superb way of managing their website.

Also, if you trade in crypto, take the chance to make crypto trade available for your users. Allow them to pay for items or other game commodities via crypto. Since Enjin provides you with a wallet, trading becomes safe and simple.

Having an additional crypto wallet is a great thing, especially if you want to diversify your financial portfolio. However, that’s a topic for a different day. In the end, having crypto technology lets you do business on a higher level.

Forums

Enjin forums are a community you should get to know. They are helpful and amazing. Most information regarding how to operate the web builder and other useful tips can be found there. Feel free to join the community, participate in communication and get the most of it.

Website Performance

Desktop Loading Speed

Whether you like it or not, you have to deal with the technical aspects of a website. Other than content and design, a website’s performance is measured by your SEO efforts and the website’s technical performance. For my tests, I used Enjin’s homepage.

For this Enjin website creator review, I tested Enjin’s homepage with GTmetrix. As you can see from the following results, with Enjin, you’ll get a decent loading speed:

As far as other performances go, Enjin does quite well. We see that when we observe these other statistics, too:

An Enjin website performs great and has a fast loading time due to minification of HTML, CSS and JavaScript uses. This set of performances makes it a great guild website. So if you want to have a decent website, with a solid technical performance, then Enjin is a great choice. Also, it gets much better when you couple it with SEO marketing.

SEO Performance

If you use the internet, you’ve probably heard of SEO marketing. Enjin allows you to add tags, create site-maps and use Google Analytics on your website.

Certainly, a great deal of your SEO effort comes from writing SEO-optimized articles, as well as using other methods to draw traffic. However, you can implement meta description and meta keywords. Adding H1 tags is done in the CMS itself and requires some knowledge of SEO. But if you’re a beginner, adding those tags will help you rank for those keywords. Especially if your niche is highly specific.

The best website builders should provide an analytics tool in your dashboard, like Enjin—and I strongly recommend using Google Analytics. Google Analytics, as its name states, is an analytic tool. Use it to review your traffic, track conversions and understand where your visitors are coming from. And the best thing is that unlike WordPress, you don’t have to manually add code to your homepage to make Analytics work. Instead, simply add your tag to the designated box and you’re good to go.

Enjin Pricing

Enjin plans come in three types of billing plans: Free, Advanced and Ultimate. When you first sign up, you get a 14-day advanced trial, and after it ends you may move to the Free or Ultimate plan. There are three payment systems – PayPal, crypto or TrialPay – with discounts available for every purchase. Plans can be downgraded or upgraded whenever you wish.

The biggest difference between Enjin plans is in the additional features you get. For example, the Free plan is great for a fan website. While you can run a Minecraft server on it, you can’t upload any files onto it, making operating such a website much harder. With the Advanced plan, operating a huge server and website becomes possible. With the Ultimate plan, you can literally design and implement whatever you need.

In reality, the billing plan dictates what you can and can’t achieve with your website. The Free plan gives you an Enjin example website. While you can get awesome features for free, consider upgrading to the Advanced plan at least. Usually, that’s the problem with hosting products such as these. If you want to run them as a real website, especially if you are a small business owner, then you should invest some money in it.

Still, with the price for the Advanced billing plan at $9 a month, plus a discount, Enjin competes with major hostings and platforms. Again, it’s much more affordable than others. Also, it’s one of the few that features special settings for gamers.

Customer Support

If you do have too much trouble working out the Enjin web builder, there’s a ton of online support available, even beyond this Enjin website builder review. There are forums, knowledge bases and video tutorials.

As I stated before, maybe you aren’t tech savvy or you don’t know how to build websites. However, Enjin has an awesome support base that answers all your questions and problems. The video tutorials are clear and provide sufficient enough information to implement changes, or to answer any problematic questions. The forums are helpful and friendly, and you’ll get an answer to any of your questions shortly – even if it’s how to delete an Enjin website.

The social media profiles are regularly updated, so you can keep up with recent changes and innovations. If Enjin enchants you completely, follow their Blog to get a deeper understanding of the platform’s inner mechanisms.

But the greatest support comes from the knowledge base. It covers every aspect of Enjin. Here, you’ll find anything you need to run your website, as well as promoted articles for common platform issues, plus links to their social media profiles. Just reading through the social media profiles is enough to find out how to make a free Enjin website.

Most importantly, the website and forum staff are friendly. They will try to answer all your questions as fast as they can, and generally the forums have an awesome answering rate. But, you should also feel free to look around, especially if you’re a beginner in web design or web building.

Parting Thoughts

Well, we listed all the perks and features. Here comes the ‘big question’. Would I recommend the Enjin website creator? I have two answers. First, yes, if you want to build a decent website without too much coding. My second answer concerns whether you want to build a gaming niche website. If so, then the answer is absolutely!

While there are other, more popular platforms for building websites, there are no platforms like Enjin. Enjin comes with all the features you need to operate a serious gaming website. Now that you don’t need to manually develop your website, you can spend hours editing your wiki, recruiting players or managing your server.

These are my parting thoughts for this Enjin website builder review. Certainly, Eijin is a solid web building platform. But don’t think about it in that manner. For a gamer, Enjin is a technical base for the next generation’s gaming experience. Try it out.

Conclusion

That’s all we had in store for you! If you liked this review, we have more to come. Check out what we found out in our continuous search for the best website builders on the market!